Garland police say two suspects have been arrested in the fatal shooting of a convenience store clerk during a robbery attempt late Saturday.
Darrell Dewayne Nash, 23, and Chavez Tryee Nash, 19, both of Dallas, are charged with capital murder and are in the Garland jail, police said Tuesday evening.
The two are cousins, according to police.
No bond has been set for either man, and information about attorney representation was not immediately available.
Police said the two men entered the Exxon station at Broadway Boulevard and East Oates Road just before midnight Jan. 20. Surveillance video shows them pull out handguns and demand money from the clerk, 35-year-old Manish Panday.
During a struggle, Panday was fatally shot.
Police said detectives received information that helped identified Darrell and Chavez Nash, and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force assisted in locating and arresting them.
There had been a $10,000 reward for information leading police to an arrest. Garland police say Jerry Reynolds, host of the Car Pro Show on WBAP Radio, donated $5,000 to increase the reward.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that a third person, not seen in surveillance video, may have also been involved in the crime.
Police said they also believe Darrell and Chavez Nash are responsible for three other robberies that occurred in Garland, including one earlier Saturday evening.
For the first time since Saturday, the Exxon where Panday worked opened its doors Tuesday.
The owner's business partner manned the cash register, saying the owner and Panday's family are too heartbroken to come in.
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MD Jahangir said regular customers continue to drop in and offer condolences.
"Manish worked here for seven years. He had a lot of friends around here, so everybody is suffering the same situation and the same thing," Jahangir said.
Friends who work in other convenience stores say they are feeling the pain as well.
Krishna Lamichanne has worked in convenience stores for 15 years. In that time, he says he's been held up at gunpoint twice. Lamichanne, who is also the previous president of the Nepalese Society, Texas, says he's sat with many families like Panday's.
"A lot of minority community and migrant community do this business," Lamichanne said. "They can't invest millions and millions and millions of dollars and the big corporate office, they start from beginning."
Lamichanne believes the smaller, mom-and-pop shops are often targets for that reason. Although he maintains security cameras and takes precautions at his stores, he says he'd like to see more regular police patrols at gas stations.
"All the law enforcement is working hard," Lamichanne said. "But, I want more patrolling."
Garland police reports show Panday, who was killed Saturday, was held up at work at least twice before — once in February 2016 and again in September 2017 — though overall robberies in the city ticked down by about seven percent last year.
A vigil for Panday is planned at the store where he worked for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Friends of Panday have started a GoFundMe account to help support Panday's widow, who is five months pregnant with their first child.
ONLINE: Click here to visit the GoFundMe account for Manish Panday.
